Sam's Red Hat

I wrote the other day about IBM chairman Sam Palmisano, speculating over what he might next do with Linux.

Well, if one of you has Photoshop, maybe you could add a nice red Santa hat to that picture and send it back to me.We should probably start using it.

That's because Red Hat is a key component in Palmisano's Linux strategy. Big Blue has expanded its certification program with Linux, with an aim toward having more applications for it enterprises can trust.

What is IBM's Linux strategy?

As David Berlind so cogently explained on December 7 IBM is playing an alliance game here. Buying Red Hat might be counterproductive. But an alliance can be mutually-beneficial, increasing the faith customers have in open source and its products.

As Palmisano increases the Linux applications base, the day when a desktop (or better yet laptop) Linux device becomes mass market-worthy comes closer. When that day comes, the Lenovo deal means the resulting box will come in at the price lower than IBM could manage on its own.

The biggest predators are always the most patient.